Sometimes you grow up. Sometimes you don't. (the answer to "What now, Dad?")

Month: January 2018

It took some time before I realized that Matthew is now in secondary school. Or did it take some time before I accepted the fact that Matthew is now in secondary school? It just doesn’t feel like it at home. I’m not complaining though. Because at home, he still gives us hugs and kisses. He still asks us to open jars, wrap his books and find his spectacles. His room is still always a mess and his hair is still mostly unkempt. He still forgets everything and he still does not have a care in the world. He did grow up a bit in some way. It is no longer milestones but you could still say that the changes are mild improvements. He no longer wants us to give him baths for one thing (although I still need to drag him out of bed in the morning). He has his own choices when it comes to clothing him (preferring -ehem- to be comfortable at the expense of looking like a rag doll). He eats most of his food now if he likes it (it still takes him an hour to do so). And other little changes here and there.

I keep having to remind myself that he is twelve now. A pre-teen. And probably the start of even more headaches and heartaches. Sometimes I think about asking my parents how I was like when I was twelve, but they will probably only say that “I had been a handful but a good kid nonetheless”. It’s like those random psychology tests that you get asked on Facebook. The results are always answers so vague that you think that you already knew them all along. To be honest, Matthew does not really like being compared to anyone, including me. From time to time he would point out things that he has been doing that is similar to what we have done before (based on stories that we have already shared). But directly comparing what he is doing to others is a big no-no. What I’m afraid of though, is if he becomes more of a handful than I had been when I was his age.

I don’t want to think about the negatives because there will always be bad stuff with the good stuff. After all, balance is the key. It is a bit difficult writing about life only when there is absolute good in it. Because honestly, everybody has their good days and their bad days. There may come a change in the way this blog moves forward from here on in. I will still try and balance writing about things that can be discussed and of course keep things that are private, well, private. We’ll see how things go along this year and the coming years. Fingers crossed.

When I was younger, my memories of Christmas was a day that had always been celebrated with family. And we had a big enough family back when everyone was more or less younger. We would go to Christmas mass either on the eve of the 25th or early morning on Christmas day. Us kids would then go around to our grandparents houses where Christmas parties would be celebrated (it was a time to get re-acquainted with our cousins and aunties and uncles). There would be party games such as “bring me” and “make the longest line”. There are times that we would have programs as well (but that was very rare). And of course, Christmas parties would not be complete without exchanging presents. Throughout the years, people grew older and traditions started to disappear. I’m just glad that I could recall those memories because life was simpler back then and happiness could be served with just a smile.

We tried offering the same memories with Matthew now onboard. And with life away from “home”, we felt like we had never had a real tradition that we followed. We were more like “go with the flow” kind of people. And there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it makes our lives a lot easier to control when we don’t have to trouble ourselves too much with things that people say need to be for feeling Christmas. And so we make our own rules. Sometimes we are in the Philippines with family, and sometimes our family are with us here in Singapore. As long as there is love, it is pretty much Christmas to us.

This year is no different. We would wing it, like usual.

We didn’t have Christmas Noche Buena this year (for those who do not celebrate as such, it is having a celebratory dining at midnight). We were planning on having Christmas ham and assorted cheese board and maybe some drinks. Instead, we had an early Christmas dinner with healthy servings of meat, bacon and eggs at Wild Honey. We had a feast and only the Christmas songs in the background gave a hint of the season. We didn’t watch the animated Rudolph or Santa Claus movies that were Christmas favorites on the eve (for children anyway). Instead, we were watching Star Trek. In fact, we were so hooked watching that we didn’t even see Santa come in and drop off his gifts. We opened our presents after the movie and had a good sharing of hugs and laughs and love. And then we hit the sack like potatoes. Yup, we were dead weight by the time Christmas had come.

We do hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Happy birthday, Jesus!

Unlike our Christmas, our New Year didn’t quite pan out. Maybe it was because we were all tired (my sister and her family were here for a visit), or maybe we weren’t really that hyped up about new year celebrations anymore. Whichever the case may be, we had our dinner between early and late, keeping it somewhere between evening and midnight. Matthew had initially complained since he seemed to have wanted to welcome the new year. Still, our dinner was warm and cozy. An assortment of cheese and ham and just the right amount of sparkling drink to cap off 2017.

There were no firecrackers or loud noises. There were no door knocking and greeting your neighbours a happy new year (it was another old tradition with the family). There were no sparklers or poppers. It was a quiet and seemingly uneventful evening. It was just us and the rainy welcome of 2018.

On that note, there are things to do and a lot of improvement has to be made (both personally and in the world). I’m hoping to get the momentum going early on so that it picks up speed and eventually run us off the ground for take off.

Happy New Year to everyone. May 2018 bring about realities to our wishes and dreams!